Improved machine for cutting and reducing vegetables



T. J. SLOAN. MACHINE FOR CUTTING AND REDTZGING VEGETABLES.

No. 48,316. Patented June 20, 1865.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS J. SLOAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IM R VED MACHINE on CUTTING AND REDUCING VEGETABLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent NoJ-4813l6, dated June 20, 1865,

To all whom fit may concern Beit'known that I, THOMAS J. SLoAN, of the city county, and State ofNew York, have invents certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Cutting Up and Reducing Vegetable Substances; and I do hereby do clare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in whic h- Figure l 'is a vertical section; Figs. 2, 3', and 4, horizontal .sections taken at the lines A a, B b, and C c of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a horizontal ,-and Fig. 6 a vertical, section of a modification of a machine'on my improved plan.

'The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

are reduced to unequal sizes and at an undue expenditnre'ofpower.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the accompanying drawings, or represents the outer shell crease,

' which is in the form of an inverted frustum of a cone, with a cross-bar, b, or bridge extending across the lower open end to receive the journal or pivot at the lower end of a vertical shaft, 0, the upper end of which is sustained by a cross-bar, d. To leave the upper end of the case free for feeding in the material, the cross-bar d is curved upward, as represented. This, however, is a matter cf mere preference. The lower end of the case has a flange, 0, extending inward for a short distance, to form a seat for a series-of rings which are fitted to the inner periphery of the said case. There are two sets of these rings, indicated by f and g. The rings f have cutters It secured to them by dovetail joints, as at i. I prefer to have three such cutters on each of the ringsf, and to have their front or square cutting-edges inclined a l little from a radial line. The rings 9, constituting the other series, are interposed between the rings which carry the cutters to leave atternate spaces for the passage of cutters on the shaft.

The shaft ois formed with a projecting flange, j, at the lower end, to form a base for two series of rings, 7; and l, which rings are slipped onto the shaft and seen red by a nut, m, tapped onto the shaft, or by other and equivalent means.

The series of ringsk carry radiating cutters m, secured to their outer periphery by dovetail or other equivalent joints, and the other rings of the series lare interposed betweentherings that carry the cutters, so that beginning at the lower end of the shaft there shall be one blank ring Land then oneriu g k, with its cutters,

and thenauother ring Z, and so on to the top,

the rings f, with the cutters h, secured to. the case, being opposite the rings without cutters on the shaft, and vice versa.

The inner ends of the cutters h on the rings f of the case, from the upper end to a little below the middle, extend into grooves formed in the outer peripheries of the rings ion the shaft, as at n, and the inner end of the cutters on the remaining rings f extend between the rings k on the shaft, the rings 1 being made narrower ibr'that-purpose; and the rings secured to the case are formed in like manner to receive the square cutting-edges, the object being to have them not as shears in cutting the material. They may, however, be formed, as represented in the sectional Fig. 7 by grooving the front face, or by making them of two thicknesses in contact, and beveled so that the outer edges shall act as shears.

The rings 70 are feathered, or otherwise so secured to the shaft as to turn therewith, and the rings f are to be in like manner secured to the case so as not to turn therein.

. Theshaft, with its cutters, is to be driven by a better other equivalent means, and the upper end of the case may be provided with a suitable hopper to facilitate the feeding in of the material to'be reduced. As the material enters at the top in the coarse state, whatever may beits size, it is first acted upon by the upperrevolvin g cutters and carried against the upper stationary cutters, and by the two series I the lower cutters, which run close to the stationary cutters, both the stationary and-fixed cutters at the lower end being made thinner, and by them the pieces are still more and gradually reduced by the like cutting or shearing action to the required small or granular state, and in that state discharged at bottom; and

although I prefer the method herein described of connecting the cutters with the rings on the shaft and in the case, and deem that a material part of my said invention, for the reason that the cutters can be readily taken out for grinding and readily replaced or new ones substituted, nevertheless it will be obvious that this portion of my said invention may be dispensed with and the other portions be retained and used to advantage by substituting some other mode of construction.

Another mode of construction for the application of the leading part of my said invention is represented in Figs. 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings. In the two last-named figures the cutters h and m, both revolving and stationary, are cutout of a series of plates, f and k, inserted in and upon and secured to the case and shaft, as before described, with interposed ringsg and l. The inner periphery of the rings of the case may present the formof a cylinder,

and those on the shaft the frustum of a cone,

' instead of the form represented in Fig. 1, the

form represented in Fig. 6 being preferred, for the reason that it presents a greater extent of reducing-surface than when made of the reverse form.

The annular space between the rings in the case and on the shaft is made gradually less toward the lower end, because the cutters at and near the lower end are required to be made thin when. the material is required to be re duced to a fine state, and if made comparatively long they would be liable to be bent and strike one against another.

Instead of making the spaces between the cutters on the shaft and also in the case at.

and near the upper end wider apart,by leaving spaces between the cutters. on the shaft and those in the case, they may be all made to run close, as at the lower end, the cutters, both on the shaft and in the case, being made thicker at the upper than at the lower end; and if the material to be reduced is of a small size-such as grain-the machine may be made with the cutters of equal or nearly equal thickness from the upper to the lower end, and for some ma- I terials it may be advisable to make all the cutters of equal thickness and at equal distances apart.

For the reduction of' some materials it may i be desirable to use two machines'one coarse for the first reduction, and the second fine to still further reduce the product of the first; but I prefer to have the different grades of cutters in the one machine.

What I'claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the series of square or shear-edge cutters on the shaft with the series of square or shear-edge cutters in the case, arranged and operating substantially as herein described.

2. Sustaining the outer ends of the cutters on the shaft by the rings of the case, in combination with the sustaining of the inner ends of the cutters of the case by the rings on the shaft, substantially as and for the purpose described. v

3. Gonnectin g the cutters with the shaft and with the case by having the cutters attached each separately, by a dovetail or equivalent joint, to a ring, and the rings to the shaft and case, substantially as described, to facilitate sharpening and other repairs. 7

I THOS. J. SLOAN. Witnesses:

WM. H. BISHOP, ANDREW DE LAoY. 

